This is my last night in Vang Vieng.
I’m up in five hours to leave this city, but instead of sleeping, I’m writing another post.
I don’t really know why, maybe it will be revealed by the end.
On the way to the last Laotian city
Traveling in this country is also incredible.
Phonsavan is 230 km away according to Google Maps. And it takes 8 hours to do it by car.
It costs 5 USD to take a minibus there. For some reason I didn’t want to experience this for myself. And not because of the 5 USD!
A few weeks ago I decided to hitchhike from here to this city. Okay, I’m not sure I’ll get there by hitchhiking, but I’ll try this morning.
I’m prepared that if it takes 8 hours for a car, it could take up to 16 hours for a hitchhiker.
I’m not sure I’ll get there today, so I haven’t booked any accommodation in Phonsavan. So now I’m putting the trip into quite an adventure mode. I don’t know how I’ll get there, nor where I’ll sleep.
And that’s exactly the point. Hitchhiking in Asia is not yet on my list of adventures, so let’s see what today brings.
I was talking to a friend about it. He mentioned that he used to hitchhike a lot when he was younger and how great it was. Part of it was because he met so many interesting people.
Well, I don’t expect that here. I mean, it’s not that I won’t meet interesting people. It’s just that we won’t have a good conversation. Most of the people here don’t even understand basic English. Let’s take that literally, because I’ve also experienced that I can’t use the word “coffee.”
Not to mention that in this part of Laos, I can’t even be sure what language I’m speaking.
I was so busy one night that I didn’t want to go into town to eat again. Since there’s a big restaurant-like place at the accommodation, I went there and asked the host – in English – if I could get something to eat. Of course, we didn’t understand each other, so I pantomimed that I was eating. With an “aha” cry, he immediately called his wife to help him solve this problem. Because the man couldn’t understand what I wanted. I must be a bad actor…
We didn’t get any further with him, as they say, because I couldn’t even show him what I wanted. He didn’t understand English, either. So I took out Google Translate and typed in the Hungarian-Lao translation “can I eat something here?”
The man responded to this and said “Chinese, Chinese”. This is how it turns out for me that my hosts are Chinese.
Not to mention, I got food after the translation.
I’ve had quite a few experiences like this, so I don’t expect that if someone picks up, we’ll have very deep conversations.
If they pick up. Because several travelers have told me that most people who stop quickly calculate the fare and then tell you how much it will cost. If you don’t pay, they’ll move on.
So I’m really just counting on good luck that someone stops and doesn’t ask for money. I’ve decided to let the first three people who ask for money go, but if there’s nothing else, I’ll pay the fourth.
We’ll see.
O and Pow
I have 6 or 8 t-shirts. 3 of them are Spartan Race t-shirts, with a recognizable Greek war helmet on the chest. Since almost half of my t-shirts are like that, it’s no surprise that I was walking down the street wearing one a few days ago.
That’s why a man, O, spoke to me.
I was listening to music, so I didn’t understand what he was saying, but I stopped. He pointed to his arm, which had the exact same silhouette tattooed on it as my t-shirt. We became friends right away. I sat down and talked for half an hour.
O is from Alaska, but he’s been living in Asia for a long time. Pow is married to a Laotian woman. And they run their own restaurant. We had a really good chat, but I was already having lunch, so I didn’t eat there that day. But yesterday I went back for lunch. Only Pow was there, whom I hadn’t seen the day before. Yet he was so happy for me that he immediately texted his husband that the Hungarian kid was here.
Since we didn’t meet yesterday, I thought I’d have lunch there again. And so it was. I had a very delicious Koh Thao and we had a good chat again. O also gave me a little gift, but I’ll write about what it was when the time comes for that story.
When O found out that I was hitchhiking tomorrow (today), he asked me to definitely go to their place in the morning because he would make me some sandwiches for the road. He would give me water. And we would make me a big cardboard sign with the words “Phonsavan” written on it.
So my plan to just walk out of the hotel to the main road in the morning and casually put my hand out fell through.
But honestly, I don’t mind at all that I’ll go back to the city first.
After a few conversations, O said that it was really nice to talk to me. And that he saw from the first moment what a good mentality I had. I would be lying if I said I had no idea where he got that from.
He also mentioned something about me always smiling. LOL.
It was good for me to talk to this man too. He is 52 years old, has a lot of experience and good thoughts, and he had quite a few stories that if they had happened to me, you would definitely read them here on the blog.
Waiting for the Dawn-brought Sun
For some reason I’ve been listening to this song all day today.
I whistled with my headphones in my ear. I didn’t mean to write such a big alliteration, but it worked. Several little kids on the street punctuated the whistling.
The whistling reminds me that yesterday, as I was coming home, two little girls ran up to me to have a chat. One of them saw my whistle hanging on the strap of my backpack. She showed me to bend down so she could blow it. She was so cute, how happy she was. Then she showed me to blow it too. That’s how we became whistle friends.
Today, a little boy – seeing me walking whistling – stopped me to clap our hands. Then to shake hands. To clench our fists.
So, there’s a chance that several people on the streets of Vang Vieng might have been happy that I was listening to music today.
I really like this song. I’ve been listening to it for 15 years.
But today it sounded different somehow.
The line “When you see and you feel my soul on the trip” danced inside me. I can’t even explain why.
And for some reason this verse resonated very peacefully with me:
I will be the star, flame of twilight
Waiting for the Dawn-brought Sun
Wide sky’s adornment
Protector and peace of Dream
Not because I will be a star or anything like that. But because I feel exactly the same peace inside me that the person who says the above lines can feel.
I don’t expect anything even when I wait for the Sun that dawns.
I am simply happy for the days I said goodbye to Vang Vieng. For the fact that it has given me so many peaceful and friendly experiences in the last two days.
Shared whistling, pats, new acquaintances, appreciative opinions. All of these are the protectors of my dream, the peace…
And of course, I will also tell you what the sandwich was like. I will leave the rest to the dawn.
Buy me a coffee?
If you enjoyed this story, you can buy me a coffee. You don’t have to – but it means a lot and I always turn it into a new adventure.
Buy a coffee for Steve
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